49ers' Chris Culliver, talks with reporters during the daily press conference on Thursday Jan. 31, 2013, in New Orleans, La. The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens prepare for this Sunday's NFL Superbowl match up.

On Thursday morning, Chris Culliver entered a ballroom at the 49ers' hotel and was greeted by a three-deep media throng around the table where he was to speak.

The reporters, Culliver knew, weren't waiting to ask him about Sunday's game.

A day after his antigay remarks inspired national headlines, the 49ers' largely anonymous backup cornerback was the story of the Super Bowl. Culliver, 24, mainly stuck to the apologetic words he offered in a statement released by the team Wednesday night.

"I'm sorry that I offended anyone," he said during his 50-minute media session. "They were very ugly comments, and that's not what I feel in my heart. Hopefully, I can learn and grow from this experience and this situation."

In a radio interview during Super Bowl media day Tuesday, Culliver said a gay player wouldn't be welcome on the 49ers. He added a gay teammate should wait until 10 years after he retired to come out.

On Thursday, head coach Jim Harbaugh, owner Jed York and many of Culliver's teammates denounced his remarks. Earlier this season, Harbaugh said he would accept an openly gay player, saying "there's no discrimination in my heart."

"We reject what he said," Harbaugh said. "That's not something that reflects the way the organization feels, the way most of the players feel."

As his words inspired a firestorm Wednesday, Culliver said he had a conversation with a gay relative and clarified his feelings. He said that he'd also spoken with other members of the gay community.

York said he hoped Culliver's apologetic words and gestures weren't hollow. Last year, the 49ers became the first NFL team to record an "It Gets Better" public-service announcement against anti-gay bullying. The team offered a strongly worded statement Wednesday condemning Culliver's remarks.

"I hope that Chris will live up to his comments of wanting to expand his horizons, wanting to get to know the LGBT community," York said. "Being truly sorry for it. And I think if that happens, you truly have something that could have been a negative, intolerant, hateful situation turn into something where you see a football player that had an uninformed opinion.

"Now he can grow in his experience and be a beacon for, hopefully, everyone in the locker room for the 49ers. Hopefully in the NFL. And show it's more than what your uninformed, juvenile opinion is of something. And that's what I want to push Chris to do."

Safety Donte Whitner, who participated in the "It Gets Better" video and has gay family members, termed Culliver's comments "a little disappointing." He said such remarks are a reason there has not been an openly gay player in the NFL.

"Who knows? There could be somebody gay in our locker room right now that's scared to come out," Whitner said. And "he has a right to be if he is - to be scared to come out - because of all this and how teammates might feel."

Said quarterback Alex Smith: "It's not something I agree with. I feel completely different about the situation. I know he regrets saying (it). I don't think it's a reflection on what this team thinks, what the game is about or what team sports are about. It's just not what I believe."

Harbaugh said he had a conversation with Culliver on Wednesday, but declined to provide details. Harbaugh came away from the meeting, though, believing Culliver's insensitive comments weren't a reflection of his character.

"I do believe that there wasn't malice in his heart; he's not that kind of person," Harbaugh said. "He's not an ugly person; he's not a discriminating person."